Cleft Lip and Cleft Palate

Cleft lip: The most frequent deformity among the facial birth deformities and functional diseases is the cleft lip and cleft palate. The most important matter in this issue is the education of the family. The family may totally solve the problem by learning the correct approach towards the child and making a good planning.

The baby in the womb/uterus (before being born) completes its lip development between the weeks four and seven and its palate development between the weeks seven and twelve. Meanwhile, due to various factors (genetic, environment effects, radiation, faced medication etc.) the uniting of developing tissues may not come true and accordingly cleft lip or cleft palate may occur. The lip and palate hares may happen individually or both at the same time. Great developments have been obtained for the treatment of lip and palate hares (also known as cleft lip and cleft palate) and thus the patient children have been given chances to be perfectly adapted to the social life. However, the sizes of such clefts, their togetherness, and their light or extreme existences will for sure affect the quality and duration of the respective treatments and, accordingly, the quality of the outcomes.

There is a cleft lip or cleft palate possibility per thousand births. The most important problem in such children is feeding. Since the cleft palate children may not such, they may not be nursed from the mamma of the mother.These should be fed with special bottles or spoons. The child should be kept in straight position while feeding to prevent the nutrient going to the nasal passages. These children may face upper breathing channel infections and middle ear infections frequently. Thus, the families should protect the child from cold and be careful about their feeding.

The age for the operation: The cleft lip should be operated when the baby is 2,5-3 months and the cleft palate when the baby is 6 months – one year old. The operation should be performed by a plastic surgeon who is experienced for these cases. Both operations are performed under total anesthesia. If both the cleft lip and cleft palate exist, the former should be operated when the baby is 3 months and the cleft palate when the baby is one year old. The determination of the operation age heavily depends on the development status of the child. Thus, the children should be fed well. The children with cleft palate may face talking irregularities and may speak from nasal passages before and after the operation. Therefore the children should be definitely operated before starting to talk. The speaking therapy may be required after the operation. This therapy shall be given by the speaking therapists.

The repair of cleft lip: If the children are five kilograms with sufficient blood amount has hemoglobin more than 10 gr. and employ a healthy general condition; than it is regarded as ready for the operation. The child is applied total anesthesia and the cleft parts of the lip are combined (including muscles, mucus and skin). Thus, the operation is performed for both functionality and aesthetic. In case there is a big cleft in the lip reaching the base of the nose, the correction is performed for such part and the opening in the nasal base is closed; where even an important part of the shape deformity of the nose is repaired.

During the growing and development, such tissues of the child will face changes. When the children completed two and a half years, maybe it will be necessary to correct the shape deformity of the nasal hole which we call cleft lip nose. If the shape deformity of the nose not corrected in early ages, a more deformed cartilage structure will occur. The operation, be known, is by no means an aesthetic rhinoplasty. The rhinoplasty may only be performed after the child completes seventeen, eighteen. This operation only aims to correct the cartilage deformities in the end of the nose and within the holes of the nose.

I wish all healthy and beautiful days to be yours.